- a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift preparatory for use in manufacturing.
- anything wound in or resembling such a coil: a skein of hair.
- something suggestive of the twistings of a skein: an incoherent skein of words.
- a flock of geese, ducks, or the like, in flight.
- a succession or series of similar or interrelated things: a skein of tennis victories.
- a length of yarn, etc, wound in a long coil
- something resembling this, such as a lock of hair
- a flock of geese flying
